Ho-Ho-Holy heck, another OK K.O. fic fresh from my laptop!
Not really too, too much to say about this fic to be honest, it's mainly just a simple slice-of-life fic with friends and family just spending the holidays altogether. No robots destroying the plaza, no evil villains lurking about, no drama, angst, or some complicated, multi-chaptered arc, just a simple heartwarming story of our favorite Lakewood friends spending Christmas as one.
On terms of pairings, we got my headcanon romantic ships in play, with the implied ships like K.O. / Dendy, Rad / Drupe, and Colewort / Potato, while we have confirmed ships like Enid / Red Action and Mr. Gar / Carol starring in this story. Plus, this takes place after Season 2's "Super Black Friday".
So grab a cup of hot chocolate, sit back, and (hopefully) enjoy the story! (Also, be on the lookout for references to my other K.O. stories, "A Bash at BoxMore's" and "Big Mind, Big Heart"! ;) )
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun.)
The lyrics to "This Christmas" belong to Donny Hathaway. Also, the lyrics to "Winter Wonderland" belong to Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, with the song version itself being performed by Air Supply.
I'LL BE AT THE PLAZA FOR CHRISTMAS
It was a beautiful, December afternoon all around in Neutral Territory. The ground was freshly covered in a layer of snow and frost, with the air being brisk and nippy enough to cause chills down one's spine. The weather was just as frosty down by Lakewood, where the town was blanketed with snow and the community were all bustling about, partaking in this momentous holiday that only comes once a year.
And for good reason, too, for tonight, was Christmas Eve…
Yes, even in a world of superheroes and supervillains of every size and species, Christmas was no different here than in our own world, with families and friends showing their love for each other in the most festive way possible, be it buying presents, having fun, or just spending time with each other.
It was especially busy and hectic down at Lakewood Plaza, where all the usual heroes who frequent this not-so-sleepy shopping plaza were either decorating, shopping, playing, singing, working, or just hanging out around the area in preparations for tomorrow's big day. The parking lot was covered in frost, the orange sky was filled with oncoming snow clouds, and the decorated stores were crammed with busy shoppers, buying presents and food.
It certainly was no different down in Mr. Gar's Hero Supply store as Enid was steadily tending to the customers with their items by the register. As much as the ninja-witch teen despised her job and always found a reason to complain, for this occasion, she decided to just grin and bear it for today, as the holidays were enough to help Enid lift her spirits for once as she kindly tended to the shoppers' needs without fuss.
It especially helped when she had K.O. around to help her out with the customers, as she watched the youngster parade around in a custom Christmas sweater he and her mother both helped to make.
It was shoddy and amateur, sure, but the fact that K.O. managed to knit tiny versions of him, herself, and Radicles on the sweater, all together holding hands happily with the caption "CHRISTMAS BUDDIES" on it, was enough to help melt Enid's frozen heart either way.
Right now, the plucky hero-in-training was dusting the floors of the store, humming along to the festive Christmas tune being played on the boombox close by the register.
'Hang all the mistletoe, I'm gonna get to know ya better...this Christmas.'
'And as we trim the tree, how much fun it's gonna be together...this Christmas.' "Hey, Enid, come on, you know the words!" called K.O. to his friend.
Enid, who had just finished tending to the last customer in the store, was busily lounging across the register's countertop as usual, a pair of cool shades fixed over her eyes as she exhaled calmly.
"Nah, I'm good, little dude…" she responded casually with a smirk, "Singing's not really my deal, y'know?"
K.O. smiled good-naturedly. "Aw, come on, Enid!" he coaxed encouragingly, "We deserve to have a little fun after last month. Remember that whole mess with our Super Black Friday deal for this Shucksgiving?" Enid took off her sunglasses and rolled her eyes.
"How could I forget?" she mused, reminiscing to the massive crowd that the bodega crew had to suffer through that Black Friday. K.O. smiled back.
"Well, since it's Christmas, I suggest we just try and have a teensy bit of fun while we do our work! Takes the edge off, y'know?" urged K.O. kindly.
For a few minutes, it took the normally-cynical and passive Enid to decide to think this through. And luckily, one look into K.O.'s bright and hopeful eyes was enough for Enid to break her cool-person act for a little bit and to join in on the fun.
"Eh, what the heck?" she decided coolly. She flipped herself off the counter and onto her feet, and as the next part of the song came flowing into the air, she too wound up getting infected with the singing bug as she sung beautifully and soulfully, much to K.O.'s surprise and joy.
'Presents and cards are here, my world is filled with cheer and you…this Christmas.'
'And as I look around, your eyes outshine the town, they do...this Christmas.'
'The fireside is blazin' bright...and we're carolling through the night…'
K.O. nearly bursted with unbridled happiness upon seeing Enid freely sing her heart out at this moment, so much so that he joyfully joined her in as the chorus soon came up.
'And this Christmas will be a very special Christmas for me…'
The two danced and swung around the store merrily as the jaunty, soulful music played across the empty bodega, with both K.O. and Enid giggling and singing happily without a care as they let the festive music take control of their bodies and psyche. Quite frankly, they could've done this all day if they wanted to, but sadly, another loud noise paused their fun times at that instance.
*HONK-HONK-HONK!*
The loud, unexpected blaring of a car horn caused the two to cease their dancing and singing as they looked outside to the source of the noise. There, outside in the frosty parking lot, stood a familiar, shiny, purple van. Hitched up to the back of the van was a long, large flatbed trailer, with something just as long and big stored on it, covered with a large tarpaulin.
Enid and K.O. looked through the front window in awe as a familiar shirtless, muscular man with a mustache, sunglasses, and a pink tie got out of the passenger side of the van, getting ready to unload the trailer with whatever was on it. The equally-muscular alien driving the van was too busy proudly belting out the lyrics to the song "Sleigh Ride" to notice before his boss turned towards him with an annoyed look.
"RADICLES, KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE DANG SINGIN' ALREADY AND HELP ME SET THIS THING UP!"
"Sorry, Mr. Gar!"
Mr. Gar nodded as Rad finally hopped out of his vehicle before the bodega owner noticed Enid and K.O. still in the store. "K.O.! ENID!" he boomed out, "COME OUT HERE! I'LL NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE, TOO!"
K.O. and Enid wasted no time. They swiftly put on their winter jackets hanging from the nearby coat rack and dashed out of the store to join up with their boss and fellow co-worker. Rad waved to his buddies as he loosened the roped tying down the mysterious delivery.
"Hey, Enid! Hey, K.O.!" he called out merrily, his demeanor as warm and shiny as his green and red Christmas sweater. Enid raised an eyebrow as she and K.O. strolled up to the other two.
"Hmm, you guys certainly took your time…" she commented off-handedly. Mr. Gar scoffed lightly.
"Dang people at the lumber mill were being a bunch of slackers, so we had to load this trailer ourselves…" huffed Mr. Gar, "But, either way, we managed to get this thing here safe and sound…"
K.O.'s curiosity only grew and grew at the sound of this. "Well, what is it!? What did we get?" he squeaked out innocently. Mr. Gar chuckled and gave him a fatherly smile.
"Help us get the tarp off this thing and see for yourself…" he rumbled importantly.
Soon enough, the four had worked together to unfurl the large sheet of the unknown delivery. It took some time, considering it was a large shipment, but after they had uncovered said package, K.O.'s face lit up in absolute joy at seeing what Mr. Gar and Rad had brought over. Needless to say, everyone was excited to see what the delivery actually was!
It was a tall, beautiful-looking, fresh pine tree! Its forest green thistles gleamed in the sunlight and its trunk looked strong and thick. Mr. Gar smirked proudly at the tree, thankful it still looked undamaged and pristine from the journey, while his employees simply stared wide-eyed with child-like wonder at the tree's presence.
Mr. Gar sniffed in the tree's scent and exhaled proudly. "Ah…fresh Battleburg County Pine! Nothing else like it!" he rumbled with a smile.
"Whoa...isn't it beautiful, guys?" breathed out Rad in awe. Enid nodded back.
"It surely is!" smiled Enid before a thought struck her mind, "I just don't see why we always have to get a Christmas tree squarely on Christmas Eve though…" Mr. Gar wrinkled his brow.
"That's when they're cheaper, Enid…" boomed Mr. Gar, "I ain't paying 200 techmos for a dang tree where I can buy one for half the price when the season is drawing near…"
Enid still seemed quite unconvinced. "100 techmos is still a lot of money to drop on a tree for us to use for a day or two…" she commented matter-of-factly. Rad smirked and slung an arm around his shoulder.
"Aw, don't be such a grump, Enid! So long as we got a Christmas tree, what's there to worry about?" chortled the blue alien. K.O. nodded with a grin.
"Rad's right! Plus, we still have that Christmas party tonight at the bodega!" he reminded merrily.
"Yeah, and everyone will be there!" finished Rad. Then, putting on a sly, knowing smirk, he turned towards Enid and waggled his eyebrows.
"Who knows...maybe you'll see Red Action there as well…" he stated in a teasy, faux-casual tone. Enid's cheeks burned upon hearing the Hue Trooper's name and felt her negativity wash away at that moment.
"R-Red's gonna be at the party?" she asked surprisingly, actually feeling quite elated to spend Christmas with Red Action. Mr. Gar groaned and he tried to lift the tree off its flatbed.
"There won't be a party unless we haul our butts and get everything set up, now help me with this blasted tree already!" stated Mr. Gar sternly.
Soon enough, the quartet of bodega workers wasted no time helping each other to bring the tall tree upright and placed in its mooring, in a spot located between the bodega and the Fitness Dojo. It was rough work, but it was very worth it as the tree now stood grandly and strong in place.
Then came the fun part later on as it was time to decorate it. Enid, K.O., and Rad lugged out boxes and crates of Christmas decorations to put on the tree. There were lights, candy canes, baubles, bells, tinsels, and other sparkly trinkets that the trio had spent the entire afternoon putting on the tree. But soon enough, the job was soon completed!
The trio stood back in amazement as the beautiful tree sparkled in the late-afternoon sky, its decorations twinkling in the sun. Enid sighed in relief and looked back towards the empty boxes.
"Looks like we decorated the whole tree, guys!" confirmed Enid with a smirk. Rad grinned slyly as he held something behind his back.
"Not quite, 'E'..." he chortled. Then, using his telekinesis, he produced what he was hiding behind him.
A shiny, golden star was seen levitating in Rad's telekinetic beam, clearly as it was meant to be used to be put on the tree. Enid and K.O. gazed in wonder at the star with big, curious eyes.
"So, who's gonna put it on the tree then?" asked K.O. innocently. Rad smugly chuckled, twirling the star within his levitational touch.
"Well, as the most handsomest and most strongest worker here at the bodega, I should be able to put it on the tree…" he hummed boisterously. Enid gave him an unimpressed look as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Or, maybe, seeing as I'm on a more higher power level, and that I ain't a show-offy blowhard, then I should put it on the tree, perhaps?" offered Enid, her tone sounding a bit skeptical at Rad's usual brashness. Naturally, Radicles was too in the moment to notice.
"Mmm, I ain't too sure, Enid…" mused the buff alien self-righteously, "after all, I am the one holding the star in my hands…"
However, before Rad could boast any longer, Enid swiftly snatched away the star from his levitation trick and waved it across his face mockingly. Rad stood agape at the ninja's fast reflexes as Enid flashed him a smug, ear-to-ear grin.
"Not anymore, bub…" she snorted jokingly. Rad huffed crossly and tried to snag back the decoration from Enid's grasp.
"Give it back, you!" he cried out. And soon enough, the two teens were seen shouting and trying to steal back the star from each other. The commotion was loud enough to carry across the plaza, with some patrons confused on what and where that noise was.
Luckily, a certain someone decided to play peacekeeper and was able to cease the arguing before it reached its tipping point.
"Guys! Guys!" cried out K.O. at last. Both teens, who were practically playing tug-of-war with the star, stopped and became quiet at the sound of their little friend's objection as they looked over towards him curiously.
K.O. took in a deep breath and gave them a kind, hopeful smile. "How's about we all put on the star all togetheras one...you know...as friends?" he offered in a helpful, innocent tone.
Rad and Enid looked back at each other for a few, quiet seconds, as if they were contemplating on this suggestion. Thankfully, it didn't take long before the two teens shared a small, apologetic smile as they looked back to K.O. with more friendlier grins.
"Sounds good to us…" confirmed Enid proudly, with Rad nodding firmly in agreement. K.O.'s grin went wider at the sound of that.
And soon, using Rad's levitation abilities, he carried himself, K.O., and Enid high into the sky and towards the tippy top of the towering pine tree. As they reached the top, the three friends each gripped the star decoration and they all carefully fixed the star onto the tree altogether. The star sparkled heavenly in the sun's glow.
With the tree now fully completed, Rad helped bring him and his friends back down to the ground, just in time for Mr. Gar to step out of the bodega and look towards the tree. He carefully inspected his employees' progress and beamed happily .
"Excellent work, you three!" he declared proudly, "This tree looks magnificent!"
The trio stood at attention and saluted him with big smiles. "Thank you, sir!" they replied, all tired, but satisfied with their work.
Mr. Gar nodded. "Now, all we have to do is prepare for our party inside our shop for later. Radicles, you're in charge of picking up the snacks and food for our guests!"
Rad smiled broadly. "You got it, boss-man!"
"Enid, you'll be handling the entertainment, so we'll need some Christmas music to liven things up!"
Enid smirked. "Gotcha, Mr. G!"
"And K.O., I'll need your help setting up the tables and chairs for the public tonight!"
K.O.'s smile went from ear-to-ear. "Yes, sir, Mr. Gar, sir!"
"Our party starts in a couple of hours, so let's hurry this process up, bodegamen!" declared Mr. Gar, leaving his employees to tend to their separate missions.
Soon enough, Rad left in his van to fetch the party snacks, with Enid tagging along so she could pick up her music equipment for tonight. All that left was K.O. to assist his boss in bringing in some fold-out chairs and tables for their incoming guests. The young hero-in-training beamed excitedly as he dashed back inside the bodega, ready to help prepare such an exciting party for tonight.
"This is gonna be the bestest Christmas party ever!"
A FEW HOURS LATER...
T'was now the evening before Christmas. As the December sky darkened outside, the majority of Lakewood Plaza was quiet and dark. The stores were closed down for the holidays, no creatures (or heroes) were stirring around...
...all with the exception of the lights and noise blissfully resonating from Mr. Gar's store that was.
Inside the hero supply shop, our usual crowd of heroic frequenters were seen milling around, chatting happily, and partaking in festive activities at the party without a care in the world. Christmassy party decorations were strung around the bodega walls and shelves, food tables and party games were set up, and practically everybody donned some sort of Christmas-themed attire, such as reindeer antler headpieces, Santa hats, and gaudy sweaters, all without a care.
It was truly a heartwarming sight to see everyone looks so cheerful, as K.O. merrily found out as he strolled around the crowd, passing out homemade Christmas cookies for the guests to enjoy.
He spotted heroes and friends having a blast all around the store. He saw Gladys, Gertie, and Ginger chatting happily nearby the snack table, close by to where Drupe, Gregg, and Real Magic Skeleton were seen cheering and egging Brandon on as he chugged down the entire punch bowl like some wild frat boy. He spotted Mega Football Baby, Bell Beefer, Ms. Mummy, Sparko, Ted Viking, and Neil dancing and singing along to some lively holiday songs being blared out from Enid's DJ system.
Other patrons were seen like Beardo, Punching Judy, and Mr. Logic standing by to the side, all conversing casually about work and other hero stuff. Then, there were Nick Army and Joff the Shaolin Monk playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", as well as Colewort and Potato sweetly exchanging gifts with one another.
There were a couple of other guests also doing their own thing, like Pird, who was busily idling around and alone, staring off into space like the lost and lonely fool he was. Then, there was Joe Cuppa, as he kept cracking Christmas-related jokes to anyone who'd listen. And lastly, there was Crinkly Wrinkly, dancing and hobbling around like a goofball, leaving many patrons to wonder if somebody may have spiked the punch bowl and that the old coot may have taken a few too many swigs from it.
Another sweet sight K.O. noticed was Mr. Gar and Carol joyfully chatting with one another close by the exit, to which it escalated into Mr. Gar suddenly giving Carol a wrapped present and a touched, excited Carol giving his flustered boss a thankful embrace in return, which he both nervously and graciously accepted and returned the hug himself.
All of these friendly and loving gestures were enough for K.O.'s heart to glow with pride as he soon made his way towards the cashout area, where he naturally noticed Enid, Red Action, and Rad lounging around, chatting with each other happily. Rad noticed their little compadre from afar and happily waved him over.
"Hey, K.O.! Over here!" he called. K.O. beamed and without hesitation, he soon met up with his "older siblings" as the party still went in full swing around them.
"Hey, guys! Isn't this great!? Everyone's having fun at our party!" smiled K.O. excitedly. Enid nodded as she scanned around the packed bodega with a grin.
"Seems like it turned out to be pretty decent…" she confirmed thoughtfully. Red Action, who was wearing a bright red Christmas jumper that still managed to reveal her muscular midriff, only smirked lightly at her close friend.
"Psh, don't sell yourself short, Enid!" replied Red as she placed a hand on Enid's shoulder, "This party rocks! You guys really outdone yourselves!" Radicles beamed broadly alongside her.
"Yeah, Enid! Besides, we can still throw a better party than BoxMore ever could!" chuckled the blue alien, "Mr. Gar told me about the time they threw this loud party that woke him up that night and he straight up wailed on Raymond!"
K.O., Enid, and Red nearly feel over each other from laughing so much! The thought of Mr. Gar laying the smackdown on a BoxMore 'Bot sounded both awesome and hilarious in their eyes as they giggled rambunctiously above the chatter of their party guests.
"HA-HA-HA! Oh, man, that sounds priceless!" wheezed out Enid through her laughter. Red Action wiped away a tear from laughing so hard. "You're tellin' me!" the Hue Trooper cackled back.
Even K.O. couldn't hold back his infectious giggles, enthralled to share such funny and memorable stories with his closest friends. However, before the four friends could spin another yarn, another ally had also unexpectedly joined the group.
"Greetings, K.O.." chimed a nasally, yet welcoming voice. K.O. turned around and beamed brightly upon seeing the familiar kappa girl before him.
"DENDY!" he squealed happily as he immediately brought her into a big hug. Indeed, there stood Dendy wearing a green Christmas sweater and a pair of fake reindeer antlers on her hand, smiling as she returned K.O.'s hug.
"Merry Christmas, K.O.!" smiled Dendy through their hug. K.O. smiled warmly as he tightened the hug a bit. "Merry Christmas, Dendy!" he chirped in return.
They released their hug, just as Dendy had realized something. "Oh, uh, I hope you don't mind, K.O.," she said, "but I've taken the liberty of creating a Christmas card for you…"
She then reached into her hackpack and produced a hologram card that she gave to K.O.. He happily accepted the gift and smiled at the card, showing a well-drawn sketch of him and Dendy holding hands in the snow, with the caption reading "Merry Christmas to my truest friend!" on the bottom. K.O. blushed at the kind gesture.
"Aw...thanks, Dendy! This was really kind of you" he thanked sweetly. Dendy blushed and rubbed her arm shyly.
"It was nothing, K.O." she replied modestly, "After the last time I made you a card that Valentine's Day, I guess I've taken up a new hobby of designing not just code, but for cards as well…" K.O. giggled softly.
"Well, either way, it looks great!" he proudly exclaimed, before he remembered something as well, "Ooh, I-I also have a card for you, too!" He then ran over to his coat on the nearby coat rack and rummaged in one of the pockets to reveal a small card, which he ran back and happily gave to Dendy.
Dendy inspected the card with a smile on her face. It was certainly more crude than her own card. Much like her's, K.O. tried to draw them both on the cover (with them both holding hands as well and wearing Santa hats), but his artstyle wasn't as refined as her own, but either way, Dendy still found the gesture sweet and the drawing pretty cute, in spite of its shoddy workmanship.
She especially adored the caption above the drawing, reading "Merry Christmas to the best kappa in the world!". Dendy beamed and immediately brought K.O. into another hug.
"Oh, K.O.! I love it!" she answered sincerely as she and K.O. laughed, blushed, and embraced without a care. Rad, Enid, and Red Action, meanwhile, were watching this from the sidelines and they all couldn't help but to smile at the sweet sight before them.
"I guess it figures that someone as cute as K.O. would find himself a cute girlfriend…" Enid said good-naturedly. Rad chuckled back.
"Yeah…" agreed Rad, before he pulled off a teasing smile, "It's a shame we ain't near any mistletoe though…"
Enid held back a snort, just as Red Action smirked in reply. "Oh, I don't know about that…" she mused, in which she gave Enid a little side hug and flashed her a sly smile, "I think we're a pretty cute couple too, don'tcha think?"
She didn't wait for a response from the surprised Enid as she sweetly pecked a kiss on the bodega girl's red cheek, prompting a shy giggle from her.
"Red, please! Someone could be watching!" she cried out meekly. Red's smirk went wider as she raised Enid a playful, devious eyebrow.
"Like that's stopped you before?" she asked smoothly. This elicited another fit of laughs between the three teens. However, before anymore merry-making could be done...
"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!"
...the sudden bellowing from Mr. Gar caused the wave of guests, including K.O. and his friends, into silence as they directed their attention to the Level 11 bodega owned himself, standing importantly before the crowd.
"It's nearly 9:00, which means it's time for to light our Christmas tree!" announced Mr. Gar with a broad grin. The crowd cheered and erupted into pure excitement as they all proceeded to converse joyfully amongst themselves. Radicles seemed the most enthusiastic of them all.
"WHOOOO!" he whooped loudly as he already began to run outside after his boss, "C'mon, guys! Let's go!" he rallied to his close friends as the crowd slowly began to disperse the store.
Enid chuckled at her friend's kid-like elation as slung a loving arm around Red Action's shoulder. "Care to join us, Red?" she asked her crush with a sly, though inviting smile.
Red chuckled slyly and flashed Enid a smile in return. "Lead the way, my dear…" she chuckled playfully as she and Enid made their outside through the crowd. K.O. noticed the crowd leaving as well and gave Dendy a shy, but friendly smile.
"So...what do you say, Dendy? Would you like to join us as well?" he asked politely to his close friend, his face tinted red in response. Dendy's reply was also in the form of a pink blush across her cheeks, but she still retained her bright, timid smile.
"I would indeed love to, K.O.!" she replied sweetly and sincerely, prompting K.O.'s shy grin to grow bigger and more excited.
"Then let's go!" he cheered as he carefully grabbed the surprised, but happy Dendy's hand and they soon sifted through the crowd to go outside.
The two youngsters giggled and followed after their boss and other friends to get a front row look at the tree. Immediately, the entire group followed the burly man as they all exited the store in droves, entering into the frigid darkness that was the outside world.
Soon enough, everyone had crowded around outside and stood below the large, decorated tree set up squarely by the bodega. It stood proudly in its mooring, roughly standing up to fifteen feet above everyone else. The star-sprinkled, nighttime sky was a heavenly, yet subtle shade of purple, with nary a snow cloud in sight. The fresh December wind blew all around the crowd as they stood around the frost-clad parking area, but they didn't seem to mind it though.
With everybody accounted for, Mr. Gar proudly held two extension cord plugs, one end connected to the Christmas tree's lights and the other end plugged into the store's main electrical outlet. Mr. Gar looked around, seeing everyone's excited and expecting smiles as they awaited for him to bring the tree's lights to life.
With a nod, the burly bodega owner commenced with the coup de grace of tonight's events.
"Alright, everybody!" he boomed with merry vigor, "Time for the main event! Countdown begins in 10…"
"9…" Everyone grew excited and all joined Mr. Gar in the countdown.
"8…7...6…" cheered RMS, Brandon, Colewort, Potato, Gregg, Crinkly Wrinkly, and Punching Judy from one side of the crowd.
"5...4...3…" shouted Nick Army, Joff, Mr. Logic, Ginger, Gertie, Gladys, and Beardo from the other side.
"3...2…" sounded off K.O., Carol, Rad, Drupe, Enid, Red Action, and Dendy from the middle of the massive group, their eyes alight with childlike glee as the countdown came to a crescendoing finale.
"ONE!" roared Mr. Gar above the rest, and with the power of Zeus, he furiously and excitedly plugged both ends of the plugs into each other to send electricity straight to the tree.
A calm silence fell down at first, but soon enough, the tree immediately shone like the brightest star ever formed as the lights came aglow at long last. The whole parking lot was now engulfed in a heavenly, colorful light. Everyone oohed and awed in rapturous bliss at the sight of seeing the tree's full glory.
Shiny baubles, rainbow-tinted lights, sparkly tinsel, and other home-crafted decorations glistened around the tree, lovingly illuminating everyone in its warm, reflecting glow. Mr. Gar proudly smiled and joined K.O. and his other friends to bask in the tree's amazement from the sidelines.
The group was so busy idling around outside, taking in the warmth of the Christmas tree's brightness, they almost forgot about the music playing from Enid's DJ system, as the music loudly and freely wafted in the air, even with the doors closed and everybody outside.
One particular song came flowing outside of the bodega for the crowd to hear, a rendition of a classic Christmas tune complete with a bouncy, toe-tapping melody comprising of flutes, drums, bells, and such now beginning to play.
The warm, exciting feeling felt so contagious that the group couldn't help but to sing along, starting out with our favorite heroic trio singing the first verse.
K.O.: 'Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?'
ENID: 'In the lane, snow is glistenin'...'
RAD: 'A beautiful sight…'
Mr. Gar and Carol, who were seen lovingly holding each other's hand, both nuzzled together with their faces red and smiling joined in on the singing..
MR. GAR / CAROL: 'We're happy tonight!'
K.O. / RAD / ENID / MR. GAR / CAROL: 'Walkin' in a winter wonderland!'
With everyone now deciding to join in on the song, RMS is then seen wrapping a brotherly arm around Brandon's neck as he joins along.
RMS: 'Gone away is the blue bird…'
BRANDON: 'Here to stay is a new bird…'
Red Action pulls Enid closer to her, all while giving her a sly, but loving look, causing the ninja teen in question to blush softly with a smile.
RED ACTION: 'He sings a love song…'
Drupe latches against Rad's side with a shy smile, where Rad simply smiles warmly and wraps an arm around her waist.
DRUPE: 'As we go along…'
RMS / BRANDON / RED ACTION / DRUPE: 'Walkin' in a winter wonderland!'
BEARDO: 'In the meadow, we could build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown…'
MR. LOGIC: 'He'll say 'are you married?', we'll say 'no, man...but you can do the job when you're in town'…'
Colewort wraps a caring arm around Potato, who sweetly hugs Colewort's torso in return.
COLEWORT: 'Later on, we'll conspire…'
POTATO: 'As we dream by the fire…'
NICK ARMY: 'To face unafraid…'
JOFF: 'The plans that we made…'
BEARDO / MR. LOGIC / NICK ARMY / JOFF / COLEWORT / POTATO: 'Walkin' in a winter wonderland!"
As the song reached the lavish mid-way point, with the band playing a bouncy instrumental section of the chorus, K.O. took this time to take in this heartwarming, festive moment all at once.
Here, everyone who works and shops at Lakewood Plaza were all joined together; singing, hugging, holding hands, and wearing big smiles that were as bright as the shining Christmas tree before them. Even though Lakewood Plaza is considered a very friendly place overall (when it isn't being attacked by BoxMore or some other villainous threat), Christmastime seemed to always bring out the very best of everyone here in the plaza.
The smiles, the warm-hearted feelings, the joy. It was simply a harmonious sight for K.O. to see with his beloved family and friends.
Soon enough, the lyrics were coming back up again as K.O. felt Dendy gently grip his arm. She flashed him an excited, blushing, kind smile, which K.O. happily returned as the song came in play once again with them now leading towards the next verse.
DENDY: 'In the meadow, we could build a snowman, and pretend that he's a circus clown…'
K.O.: 'We'll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman, until the other kids knock him down!'
The two share a childlike giggle as the song finally began to reach its grand finale, with every hero big and small in the crowd, all sung along together merrily in perfect harmony.
EVERYBODY: 'When it snows, ain't it thrillin?'
'Blow your nose, gets a chillin'...'
'We'll frolic and play the eskimo way…'
'Walkin' in a winter wonderland, walkin' in a winter wonderland, walkin' in a winter wonderland…'
The song then finished with a bouncy flourish of flutes, jingling bells, and the sounds of a horse's hooves clopping away. K.O. smiled happily as the music came to end, as he found himself snuggled in-between his closest friends, Enid and Rad, who in question who also managing to snuggle alongside their own respective crushes as they all continued to bask in the Christmas tree's comforting light.
This wonderful sight became even more gorgeous as the crowd began to spy a few shooting stars soaring across the nighttime sky, causing a few more awestruck gasps from the group as they whooshed past behind the tree.
The scene felt absolutely complete in K.O.'s mind, as he Rad, Enid snuggled closer against one another as the shooting stars began to die down up above. Needless to say, the heroes of Lakewood Plaza were having a fantastic Christmas, especially our favorite trio of robot-fighting, bodega-working friends as the spirit of the season seemed to bring the three closer than ever before.
"Merry Christmas, guys…" the trio murmured quietly, yet tenderly to each other, all blissfully thankful to have such great friends in their midst to share the holiday spirit with.
However, they hadn't known that that one particular star flashing through the sky wasn't actually a star at all!
The whooshing beam of light had just soared high over the bodega parking lot, leaving behind shining sparkles in its wake. Upon closer inspection, one could almost see that the star could've been a red craft of sorts being seen flying across the deep purple skyline, being towed by nine reindeer.
But of course, nobody had the chance to see it clearly, seeing how high and far away it was in the sky, but if you'd ask Principal Claus himself, sitting at the helm of his flying sleigh as he was ready to make his rounds that night, he'd tell you differently as he warmly gazed down at the happy, singing plaza patrons down below and belted out his signature laugh.
"Ho-ho-ho! Merry Christmas, Lakewood Plaza! And to all a good night!" he boomed joyously as he and his reindeer were seen flying away from the busy, not-so-sleepy shopping area and into the vast Christmas Eve night.
Truly, it really was a very, Merry Christmas here in Lakewood Plaza.
THE END
AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!
And there ends my OK K.O. Christmas fic...and my last fanfic for 2018…
Plenty more stories are being planned for next year, with two more OK K.O. being planned for January, along with another Gravity Falls Wendip story in the works as well, so be on the lookout for those. And hopefully, I'll do fanfics for other shows aside from OK K.O. or Gravity Falls!
I want to personally thank everybody for reading all of my stories and for those for favoriting, following, and reviewing me and my stories. Your support has been greatly appreciated and I can't thank you all enough!
And with all that said, Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Solstice or whichever you celebrate to everybody here on and I hope your year turns out very well and safe. Thanks a bundle for reading and for supporting my fanfics! I well and truly love you all! :D
~Thunderbyrd